Rossi Rifleman

I have the opportunity to pick up an American made "Apache Commemorative" post 64 Winchester 94 in .30-30 WCF from a person in a financial crunch. It comes in the box with the brass receiver and barrel bands and a brass crest in the butt stock. The gun has never been fired. The asking price is $695. Do you think it's a good deal?

pricedo wrote:I have the opportunity to pick up an American made "Apache Commemorative" post 64 Winchester 94 in .30-30 WCF from a person in a financial crunch. It comes in the box with the brass receiver and barrel bands and a brass crest in the butt stock. The gun has never been fired. The asking price is $695. Do you think it's a good deal?

Special run guns are pretty tough to judge as to value but the good thing is that you are dealing with a NIB post '64, '94. I would think $695 isn't out of line. Heck, Rossi '92s are pushing $500 plus then most serious users are adding the spring kit and follower. I've got one '94, a 1966 with the case hardened finish and I would not part with it. It is/was my Dad's gun since new, he traded me a Marlin for it, and I would not take that kind of money for it (any sentimental value aside).

May be you could run a search on gunbroker.com for something like "win 94 commemoritive" under the completed tab and get a better feel for the price.

I'm not familiar with the Apache commemorative, but that seems a bit high. I've seen a few Winchester commemoratives sell lately (Wells Fargo, Buffalo Bill, and Theodore Roosevelt) for $400-550. The $400 one had been used, an unfired TR with the box went for $450.

Warhawk wrote:I'm not familiar with the Apache commemorative, but that seems a bit high. I've seen a few Winchester commemoratives sell lately (Wells Fargo, Buffalo Bill, and Theodore Roosevelt) for $400-550. The $400 one had been used, an unfired TR with the box went for $450.

The absolute maximum I'd pay would be $500.
If it had been a pre-64 I'd have considered more.
The fact is that there are literally millions of these things around.
I already have a Rossi Rio Grande in .30-30 which is the smoothest, most accurate levergun I have ever shot or have ever seen shot at a range so I don't need another .30-30.
Thanks for the info guys.

When I worked at the New Haven Winchester plant around 1970-71, it seemed as though they were coming out with a new "commemorative" every other week! That complex was huge, and mostly vacant, with alleways leading everywhere. Near the assembly areas were row after row of new commemoratives, seemingly more ugly each time they came out with a new one. Underneath, they were all variants of the post-64 94's, mostly in 30-30. If the one you are looking at is unfired, and still in a good-shaped box with all of the booklets, there's someone out there, maybe, that would pay the asking price for what you've found. But that wouldn't be me. Is the gun worth the asking price? Maybe, but I'm inclined to agree with Warhawk.

In retrospect I didn't buy it.
Quality control at the New Haven plant was shoddy & still slipping just before the 2006 closure.
Some of the last guns shipped out were pretty rough.......even more so than the run of the mill Rossis.
Hated to see the New Haven plant close but you can't compete with foreign factories that pay employees a fraction of what would be minimum wage in many American states with no employee benefits without letting quality control degrade to the point where you're essentially making junk.
It's a race to the bottom in the gun manufacturing industry....... FREE TRADE BE DAMNED !

I recently got a Armi sport made NRA commemorative Model 92 rifle for about 300-400 less than retail for the non-commemorative model, probably because it was a commemorative and sat on the shelf for a few years. And I bought it as a shooter....

In my experience, unless a particular commemorative has true appeal, and displays an extra level of craftsmanship in terms of wood and metal finish, it's just going to sit there and not really appreciate much if at all, even if left in basically unfired condition.

$600-$800 can get you a pretty decent pre 64 Model 94 Winchester and it will still appreciate even if you keep using it.

Happy end to saga.
Wound up buying a mint 1894 Yellow Boy Indian Commemorative made by Winchester for $550.......a fantastic deal.
Where are you gonna get a pristine New Haven built Winchester 94 these days?
I don't care about the box & plastic sleeve cause this guns life as an aristocrat is over.........it is going to shoot, shoot, shoot & shoot some more.

I had a chance to buy a Winchester Centenial 94 Rifle(not a carbine) full 24 in bbl brand new $999.00
I was too cheap.

Bibletotingunslinger wrote:I had a chance to buy a Winchester Centenial 94 Rifle(not a carbine) full 24 in bbl brand new $999.00
I was too cheap.

That's alotta money for a Commemorative.
I wouldn't pay much over $600 for one.
If mine hadn't of been pristine I wouldn't have bought it.
There were too many Commemoratives made for them to become really rare and valuable.
The Yellowboy was in fact one of the rarer commemoratives.

The $375 pre-64 model 94 I bought will probably be shot allot more than the Yellowboy.